Christine is sick again..

We know Christine for a long time, she came for the first time in Amecet in 2004. She was treated for TB and tested for HIV and found HIV+. After 3 months we brought her back to her grandma in the village and kept visiting her. There was another organisation which helped Christine and her Grandma, so we just kept visiting her and we gave some support to the grandma (like seeds, a goat etc.) Christine did not do so well, she has been treated in total three times for TB, every time it came back, maybe also because she didn't take the medicines very regular?? In the beginning of January 2011, we found Christine being admitted in the Feeding centre of the hospital. The grandma wanted to go back to the village and leave her on her own in the centre. We talked with the nurse and agreed to take her back in Amecet. Christine was 12 years old and her weight was 15 kg. Her CD4 test (a certain white blood cell) was very low. We took her again to the doctor and her ARV medicines (HIV med.) were changed into second line.

She started to eat and was doing much better, but that terrible cough was still there. Would it be again TB?? We let her sleep alone in a room, to be sure that she could not infect any other child. But the X-ray and the sputum tests were all ok. We even went with a sample of sputum all the way to Kampala, to the TB institute, but also this test came back negative. Christine is now back with the other girls in the room. She started to gain and her weight is now 19 kg. On Wednesday, she was feeling hot, yes there was a fever. I took her for malaria test, that test came out positive, Christine had malaria, so we started 3 days of malaria treatment. Yesterday she had very high fever, maybe still malaria or an urine tract infection? This morning we did both tests, the malaria test again and the urine test, both came back negative. Christine was also a bit better, she was coloring and even tried to ride the little bicycle. But this afternoon I was called (it was my free day) that Christine had again very high fever, they were trying to get it down, but she was still shaking and very sick. Miranda and I carried her to the doctor in the clinic next door. The doctor listened to her lungs and told us, is was a pneumonia. They brought a cannula in and we took her back home. We have go give her intravenous injections via the cannula, twice a day and manage the fever. And that is what we do now.

Helen felt sorry for her and played a game with her, and there she sits, with a wet cloth on her head, (the fever was going down), and a basin next to her, in case of nausea, but trying to win the game from Helen! Good of you, Christine, that is the way to go!!!